September 7 - “Wielding the tools”

Well, yesterday was probably the most tiring day I’ve had in a very long time. We started the process of replacing our fences damaged back in Hurricane Beryl. 

Before 8 a.m., Chris and I were outside. We moved and stacked up pavers from the side of the house. Yep. Heavy stuff. But it was necessary so that we could move the shed out of the way of the fence project. She ended up mowing the backyard (and discovering no less than three really big ant beds. One of them unleashed all sorts of fury upon her. I took over the mowing while she cleared her feet of a few thousand red devils. I also finally managed to heave the shed out from the side of the house and relocate it. After one small adjustment both doors worked just fine. They haven’t even been staying on since the storm. 

Kel’s family came later in the morning and we all took our marching orders from our Big Boss - Nathan. Micah and Josiah and Christina joined in the fence demolishing task. So did our neighbor, Taylor. Kel and Noa took shifts cutting at that tree and digging around the roots. Ezra tried out just about every tool he could find. I mean he wielded a hand saw, machete, shovel, hammer, hoe, and yes, even a sawzall (under Dad’s supervision, of course).  Oh, and Taylor surprised us all by ordering pizza for lunch. 

Before the day was done we had the fences down, and the ornery tree that had grown through the middle of the chain link fence was cut down (Thanks for the big chain saw and even bigger muscles, John Luza. You are a good friend). Nathan hooked the large stump to his truck and dragged it to the street. All is ready for the materials delivery tomorrow. I already received the text letting me know the delivery window. Ready for this one? “Sometime between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.” Sure hope it’s closer to the first time, or we will lose a whole day of work. 

‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭ says, Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and with all propriety, the younger women as sisters.

Father, thank you for the dry window so we could get the fences down. Now we need more dry weather to get the posts set and later the actual fence up. Amen. 

September 6 - “Getting real”

We spent the morning getting ready for home group. I went over the study while Chris started cleaning house. I did stop long enough to do the vacuuming, though. 

I also spent some time going over the Experiencing God curriculum. Always good stuff, every time I have done it. 

Sam and I spent the early part of the afternoon watching the Astros play again. They just couldn’t solve the mystery of the Cincinnati Reds.  They haven’t won a game from the Reds since some time in 2017. The Reds even had a guy go 9 for 11 over the course of the series (Ty France).  Only good thing about that? He used to be on the Mariners. At least we don’t have to see him that often. 

Nathan called to let me know he made the order for our fence repair materials. Guess it’s getting real finally. The delivery will be Saturday. I’m ready to get this done. 

John‬ ‭5‬:‭24‬ says, I assure you: Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

Father, help us get these fences up over the next few days. We could use some dry weather. Amen. 

September 5 - “Long morning”

Chris started the day off early. Well, actually the rain started off early. Chris came in second. She had a dentist appointment at 9. Then she had to take Sam in for her doc appointment. Long morning for her, that’s for sure. 

Meanwhile, I addressed some birthday cards and actually had time to catch a movie. Not much else to do when it’s raining … and raining … and raining. Sure hope it clears off enough to dry out enough so we can get moving on the fence. 

Kel stopped by to drop off the textbooks for a Bible study I’m going to be teaching starting on Sunday. None other than Experiencing God. I have taught it numerous times over the years, but this time will be different. I’ll be going back to my roots and facilitating the study for the students. Right now Christina will be leading with me. Great study. 

Matthew‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬ says, But He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Father, help us to communicate well the principles of Experiencing God. Amen

September 4 - “Surveying the possibilities”

The rain held off long enough for us to get our two miles in. It has been a while. Chris even outdid herself and walked up and down the deck stairs no less than ten times. No stairs for me. Well, other than the one flight I got credit for somehow just by doing the walk. I’ll take it. 

Back at the house we went in the yard to survey the possibilities of working outside. We pulled up a few stickerburs in the front. Otherwise it was pretty wet. In the back, where we were supposed to continue digging up tree roots and start putting up a fence, we found a mud hole. Too wet to mow - too muddy to dig. We did manage to haul a full trash can of grass and roots to the front can so it can leave with the trash this morning.  At least there’s that. 

Sam had an appointment, so she and Chris left around eleven. By that time the rain was back, so any hope of a little digging or mowing was dashed. Instead I grabbed a shower. Nathan stopped by to borrow a suitcase for April. She is leaving for a big business trip today. Have fun! Can you have fun on a business trip?

Speaking of a business trip … we made a quick one in the afternoon to take care of some business at Randall’s (Neither of our prescriptions were ready yet, but we did fill up the car with gas). And while we were out, yep, Walmart. We had kind of a short list to cover, so it didn’t take long. Yes, bananas were on the list. At least my part of the list. 

Last night we had a pretty special dinner. Bacon and eggs. Breakfast for supper. Hard to beat. 

Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ says, And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can approve the things that are superior and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ

Father, please be with April on her trip. Amen. 

September 3 - “On the Dirty Side”

Well, welcome home to us. What should be waiting for us in Galveston but the “dirty side” of a stalled low pressure system. That’s a high class way of saying an almost-hurricane was sitting over us and dumping wave after wave of rain bands on us. Flood warnings were definitely in effect. 

One bad part about the whole rain thing was that we were supposed to go out to eat lunch with our friends Wayne and Sheri. And by the”supposed to” I mean we did. Wayne drove through some pretty high water, but we managed to make it to Salsa’s on the seawall for some more Mexican food. But the food was secondary, of course. The main point of the journey was getting to hang out and talk for a few hours. Always fun. 

Oh, and another “small detail.”  We were supposed to start building the fence in the backyard today. Now the ground is way too wet, so we had to push our start day back to Friday. I’ll still work on getting that tree dug up in the meantime, though. Well … weather permitting. 

Psalms‬ ‭94‬:‭19‬ says, When I am filled with cares, Your comfort brings me joy.

Father, thank you for Wayne and Sheri and their friendship through the years. Keep them safe on their way home today. Amen. 

September 2 - “Sweep!”

We left Waco about the time Christi and the kids left for church. After filling up the car with gas, we hit the road for home. 

In the way we listened to Josh preach until we lost the feed completely. After a while we did pick up the live stream of Kel and Seaside, though. So I guess together we managed a full worship experience. 

We got home in time to relax with Sam and watch the Astros pick up another win.  That’s a sweep of the Royals. We were also greeted with a sky full of bright sunshine. That’s a big difference from the week of rain every day that was happening when we left. Hope that sunshine remembers how to appear when we are trying to build that fence in a day or two. 

Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬ says, For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

Father, thank you for the technology that enables us to watch our boys lead worship. Amen. 

September 1 - “They played WHAT??”

We had a chance to spend time playing with the kids yesterday. But their selection of games might be a bit of a … er … surprise. 

They have a ping pong table up there. But although the table was in use, as was the unique ball, table tennis was not the game of choice. Would you believe Luke and AnnaGrace selected to play - with their Nani … Beer pong? Well, without the beer. They just moved each cup as a ball landed within. Oh, and AnnaGrace absolutely smoked Nani. She was good. 

Next they switched games. Luke came into play on this one. Tic tac toe. For this one they set up nine cups, three by three. As a cup was filled, Caleb replaced it with one of the appropriate color of the shooter. Luke won 2 games out of 3. Barely. Sorry, Nani. 

For my contribution, I made paper airplanes with AnnaGrace. She corrected my style regularly. Well, until my plane soundly defeated hers. Then she miraculously was making hers just like mine. So I changed styles. It doomed me to defeat, but it was lots of fun. 

Finally Chris and I got changed, and after a quick Whataburger Jr. stop, we drove an hour and a half north to the funeral in Burleson. And believe it or not, I actually drove. There and back. 

We saw quite a few old friends from our days in Arlington there (that was back in the 80’s, I think?). And some of them even recognized us. Others were dumbfounded that we were there, or that we had “changed so much.”  Of course the ones who said that were children when last we saw them. I would say they have changed more. Of course it has been 30 or 40 years. I suppose there is a slight chance we have all changed. 

The funeral was for an old friend, Jeff Rampy. We knew him from church, but we also had another connection. Jeff actually prepared our very first will. That was back in the day when we had to name someone to raise our kids if we died before they were grown. Jeff had one of those new-fangled computer programs in his office where he just typed in our information and it spit out the will on the dot matrix printer with that paper that was all folded and stuck together and perforated for easy tearing. The secretaries provided instant witnesses. I still have that will. Quite the souvenir. 

The word I have to describe Jeff would be “jovial.” He always had a smile and a chuckle that seemed to take over his whole body before finally releasing. He was that guy you just wanted to be around and be yourself around. If you haven’t guessed, I really liked Jeff. Most people did. 

Jeff made a pretty big impact on a lot of lives. Especially his family. And quite the family it was. Seven rows of ten seats in a row plus kids on laps filled the center section. Jeff and Sybil had four sons, 22 grandchildren, and 32 great grandchildren. Quite the quiver there, Rampy family. God has done great things. 

Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭37‬ says, For nothing will be impossible with God.

Father, be with the Rampy’s as they walk through losing a true family patriarch. Amen.